Google Unveils Digital Music Service

Google unveiled its much-anticipated digital music store today, opening a new front in its battle with Apple to provide services over mobile devices. For the first time, Google will sell songs on the Android Market, its online store for apps, movies, and books. Some songs are free, while others were priced at 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29—the same prices as on Apple's iTunes.

Once someone buys a song, it can be downloaded and is automatically uploaded for free into an online locker. The song can then be streamed over computer and mobile phone browsers, including the Safari browser, which comes on Apple devices such as the iPad. People who download the Google music app on devices running Android 2.2 and higher can stream stored songs or download them for offline playback within the app. Google's cloud storage service is free for up to 20,000 songs. (More Google stories.)